House is bugged

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I have a female client who believes her ex bugged the house. She asked me if there was a way to find out if it was. She said she has used a rf detector and it did not pic up anything. Anyone know any tricks lol
 

Smart $

Esteemed Member
Location
Ohio
I have a female client who believes her ex bugged the house. She asked me if there was a way to find out if it was. She said she has used a rf detector and it did not pic up anything. Anyone know any tricks lol
Call the local office of a reputable exterminator :p
 

G._S._Ohm

Senior Member
Location
DC area
I have a female client who believes her ex bugged the house. She asked me if there was a way to find out if it was. She said she has used a rf detector and it did not pic up anything. Anyone know any tricks lol
She may have narcissistic reasons for believing this.
Would her ex go to the time and expense of bugging her and risk of being charged with invasion of privacy if she was not a very important person and he was not insanely jealous?
It's an ego trip.

How did she react when the detector came up negative?
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
She may have narcissistic reasons for believing this.
Would her ex go to the time and expense of bugging her and risk of being charged with invasion of privacy if she was not a very important person and he was not insanely jealous?
It's an ego trip.

How did she react when the detector came up negative?

Not necessarily. I know at least one case where the husband's first reaction to a suspected cheating wife was to hire a PI. It had nothing to do with ego trips or insane jealousy and everything to do with child custody, who got the house and alimony. He was able to dictate the conditions of the divorce once the evidence of her infidelity was presented. I don't know that invasion of privacy would apply if the husband of the customer in the OP lived in the house before the separation/divorce and the bugs/hidden cameras were installed at that time as they could be considered part of a security system, the details of which the wife may not have been aware of ;)
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I am not an expert in this area, but wouldn't these devices need a power source, and a communications network?

If battery powered, batteries only will last for a certain period. Solar powered I guess is possible, but would probably add to the size to an extent making them more obvious.

As far as communications go, wireless would probably be preferred, but they would have a limited range of distance before they need to tie into some other network.

So I guess you could at very least look for some supporting devices, maybe change security settings on existing wireless routers, so they will exclude connecting to unknown devices, and a few things of that nature.
 

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
I am not an expert in this area, but wouldn't these devices need a power source, and a communications network?

If battery powered, batteries only will last for a certain period. Solar powered I guess is possible, but would probably add to the size to an extent making them more obvious.

As far as communications go, wireless would probably be preferred, but they would have a limited range of distance before they need to tie into some other network.

So I guess you could at very least look for some supporting devices, maybe change security settings on existing wireless routers, so they will exclude connecting to unknown devices, and a few things of that nature.

Cell phone technology has changed all that.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Spy-G...t=US_Surveillance_Gadgets&hash=item3378f2db53

The above is just one unit that uses cell towers to work and it can be turned on and off remotely with a cell phone.

There are both video and audio eavesdroppers that don't transmit. They just record. They are dropped and picked back up. Some very small units can record hours of video or audio.

POTS phones are easily accessible without going inside the building. In fact, someone with training could tap the phone a block away at an X-conn box.

Room monitors can be defeated simply by keeping the TV on moderately loud. Phone monitors are tougher, so best advice is not to say certain things on the phone.

RF detectors are only going to work when the unit is transmitting. Today's units are digital and can transmit several minutes of audio in a second or two and go back to off the air monitoring.

If you really want a good sweep, you will need a very broad banded spectrum analyzer with recording capability. The average home is so full of RF that it's really easy to hide an RF source. Especially with plasma TV's and the like, most homes are a cacophony of RF signals of various frequencies or modes. The old days of walking in with a box and an antenna for sweeping are gone. Today's sophisticated devices require much more sophisticated equipment to detect them.

Laser listeners have been around for decades. Sound makes glass in a room vibrate. A laser outside the house can be bounced off a window and de-modulated to hear the sound inside the house.

Since the laser unit is outside, maybe not even on the same property, even a spectrum analyzer may miss the signals if there are any. Some lasers are just recording units and don't transmit.

The crux of the biscuit is that any company that can be sure they don't miss any tricks will have to have big bucks equipment and may still have to spend days monitoring. The price will be steep and even then, the results will not be 100 percent perfect.
 

G._S._Ohm

Senior Member
Location
DC area
Not necessarily. I know at least one case where the husband's first reaction to a suspected cheating wife was to hire a PI. It had nothing to do with ego trips or insane jealousy and everything to do with child custody, who got the house and alimony. He was able to dictate the conditions of the divorce once the evidence of her infidelity was presented. I don't know that invasion of privacy would apply if the husband of the customer in the OP lived in the house before the separation/divorce and the bugs/hidden cameras were installed at that time as they could be considered part of a security system, the details of which the wife may not have been aware of ;)
My ex had me followed because she needed dirt on me but this effort kind of backfired. I hope to see her someday in a very hot place.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Cell phone technology has changed all that.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Spy-G...t=US_Surveillance_Gadgets&hash=item3378f2db53

The above is just one unit that uses cell towers to work and it can be turned on and off remotely with a cell phone.

There are both video and audio eavesdroppers that don't transmit. They just record. They are dropped and picked back up. Some very small units can record hours of video or audio.

POTS phones are easily accessible without going inside the building. In fact, someone with training could tap the phone a block away at an X-conn box.

Room monitors can be defeated simply by keeping the TV on moderately loud. Phone monitors are tougher, so best advice is not to say certain things on the phone.

RF detectors are only going to work when the unit is transmitting. Today's units are digital and can transmit several minutes of audio in a second or two and go back to off the air monitoring.

If you really want a good sweep, you will need a very broad banded spectrum analyzer with recording capability. The average home is so full of RF that it's really easy to hide an RF source. Especially with plasma TV's and the like, most homes are a cacophony of RF signals of various frequencies or modes. The old days of walking in with a box and an antenna for sweeping are gone. Today's sophisticated devices require much more sophisticated equipment to detect them.

Laser listeners have been around for decades. Sound makes glass in a room vibrate. A laser outside the house can be bounced off a window and de-modulated to hear the sound inside the house.

Since the laser unit is outside, maybe not even on the same property, even a spectrum analyzer may miss the signals if there are any. Some lasers are just recording units and don't transmit.

The crux of the biscuit is that any company that can be sure they don't miss any tricks will have to have big bucks equipment and may still have to spend days monitoring. The price will be steep and even then, the results will not be 100 percent perfect.

I have no doubt there is a lot of ability to do this monitoring, the more you wish it to be undetectable the more it is going to cost.

Devices still need powered and still need a method of data collection. The cheaper methods are going to be more noticeable.

I guess you need to know more about the people involved to determine just how likely it is that they may spend the time or money to go to certain extents.

The simpler monitoring methods are going to be simpler to find.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
I have a female client who believes her ex bugged the house. She asked me if there was a way to find out if it was. She said she has used a rf detector and it did not pic up anything. Anyone know any tricks lol

have her make some crazy threats out loud and see if the cops show up?
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
have her make some crazy threats out loud and see if the cops show up?

Depending on what her ex may be into, the cops may be a good thing to have show up. Something tells me if he is someone that may possibly bug the house, he probably is not calling the cops over any information he acquires.
 
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